A Deep Dark Blue
by InfluencedByLiterature
Summary: It was just another supply run for food and such. Risky. Dangerous. A bit of a thrill. But This was the last thing that Carl and Rick were planning to take back to the Prison.
1. Chapter 1

Carl's POV

The car we had picked out came to a screeching halt in, what appeared to be, an abandoned neighborhood. Crap was everywhere. Human remains. They were scattered across lawns. Trash. It was falling out of black bags. Houses and cars. Some appeared ransacked while others appeared untouched.

"Nice," I said sarcastically when the screech of the breaks died away.

"Well, beggars can't be choosers." my father replied.

We got out of the old squeaky car, our guns drawn and a knife on our belts.

"Carl," my father called. "We'll start there." he said as he pointed his gun to the faded blue house that remained untouched.

I nodded.

Jackpot. That's what the faded blue house was. It was our jackpot. The cabinets were filled to the brim with cans of food. Pudding too. It almost seemed unreal, the amount of food we were pulling out of this house. It was more than we ever got. In addition, we didn't have to kill any walkers. The house had been empty.

Wait...

I stopped stuffing my bag with food. "Dad?" I called.

"Yeah?" he asked. "Carl, what is it?"

"Have you ever seen this much food in one place before?" I asked.

He paused before answering. "No, I don't believe I have."

"Do you think somebody lives here?" I asked.

"Maybe." then he continued to pack.

"Dad!" I yelled.

"What?" he growled.

"If this stuff belongs to somebody then we can't just take it. They need it."

"If they need it," he said sternly, "Then where are they now."

A scream answered his question. I girl's scream. I dropped the bag of food.

"Carl," my father said warningly, "Don't you dare go."

"I'm just going to see." I said as I drew my gun and started towards the door.

"Carl." he warned again.

"Dad, I'm fifteen. I can handle it."

He dropped his bag. "I'm coming with you."

"No," I said. "Finish packing the bags and get the car. If I run into trouble, then I'll scream."

He looked as if he were debating it. Then spoke. "Fine. But hurry."

I had been right. It was a girl's scream, but now I don't think that it had been out of fear. I think it had been more of a battle cry. She couldn't have been older than me. She had brown hair put up in a disheveled bun. She had knife in one hand and a gun in the other. A crowd of walkers surrounded her, but she didn't let any get close.

_Bang. Bang. Bang. _

Three walkers dead, but more and more kept coming. I held my gun up and aimed. _Bang. _

The girl turned towards me for a second. She had a deer-in-the-headlights look to her. She turned to continue fighting. I advanced to her side to help her fend off the ones that were getting to close, but they kept coming.

I grabbed her arm. "C'mon." I said and pulled her towards the nearest house.

Once we were inside I found a room that was clear. I locked the door. If the walkers found us, I'd move the chest of drawers to block the door, but for now I worried about the gun that was pointed at my head.

I whistled. "Mind putting that thing down?" I asked with a slight laugh to my voice.

"Yeah actually." she said. "I do."

I turned slowly to find my self staring down the barrel of a gun. "I'm not going to hurt you. Just put the gun down."

"Give me one reason to."

"I get it," I said, "You're scared— but," I said as I grabbed the gun and pulled it, and she came with it. "like I said, I'm not going to hurt you."

The Girl pushed herself off of me. Her face wore a tough look, but her eyes screamed with fear.

"I don't believe that." she said as she backed towards the other end of the room.

I raised my eyebrows at her. "You have got some major trust issues."

"Ha!" she exclaimed. "Who doesn't?" She had a point. "If you want my trust you're going to have to earn it."

_BANG! BANG! BANG! _They were at the door. The Girl's eyes got even wider with fear, and so did mine.

"I swear I'm not going to hurt you," I said to The Girl, "But you've gotta trust me. We have a camp. We can take you someplace safe."

She brushed a stand of loose brown hair behind her ear. "Fine," she said as she looked up to me with deep, dark blue eyes. I froze for a moment. "but if we die, I'm going to kill you."

And then, as if on command, the door broke down.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:**

**Hey guys, so I'm new to this. I don't know if my writing is any good, but I'm working on it. So, please live comments and reviews. I'd love to here them. **

Carl's POV

Four walkers burst through the door.

"DON'T SHOOT!" I yelled at The Girl. She groaned as if annoyed.

Two walkers for each of us. Stab and stab. Mine were down. I looked over at The Girl. One of them was down while the other was proving to be a little tougher of a challenge. Stab. It was down.

I heard more walkers enter the house. We wouldn't be able to get out the way we came. There was a window on the opposite wall from the door. Barely big enough for me to get through. I swung at the window with the back of my gun. It broke. I tried to clear away the glass shards as quickly as possible before crawling through the window and onto the greenish-brown grass. I motioned for The Girl to follow me through. Once she was through, we did the most logical thing.

We ran.

We didn't have to run far. My father was in the car that we had picked up and he was parked near the faded blue house. Once he saw us, he started the engine. I knew he saw the girl, and I knew he wasn't going to ask questions until we were someplace safe.

I yanked the door to the car open. "Get in!" I yelled, but she didn't. Instead she looked around with worried and terrified eyes.

"I'm going to have to ask you to get in the car," my father said with his authoritative voice, "Or we're going to have to leave you." I shot him a dirty look.

She turned to me suddenly with the deep dark blue eyes. "Please. One minute."

"What for?" I asked. "Do you see those," I said pointing to the mass amount of walkers headed our way. "They are going to be here and second. We need to leave. Now!"

The Girl did the unexpected. She put her pinkies in her mouth and whistled. Out of no where, a dog came sprinting towards us. It was a chocolate colored dog. A pit bull from what I could see, and it was running fast. It jumped in the car before my father or I could protest and was followed by the girl. I got in and slammed the door shut right as my father stepped on the gas and we shot away.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **

**So I know the last chapter was really short, but here's the next one. Like I said before, leave reviews or comments. I'll probably be updating the story a lot today considering I have nothing to do. So I hope you enjoy. **

Carl's POV

Nobody spoke. I didn't think awkward silences existed still, until now.

I looked at the girl. I hadn't met one my age in a long time. She had dark brown hair. It was long. I already knew what her eyes looked like. She wasn't one of those super skinny types of girls. She _was_ skinny, but then again, isn't everybody?

She had fair skin, but it wasn't pale. Her cheekbones were noticeable, but not to sharp.

Damn. I haven't seen a girl in a long time, nevertheless a girl who looked like this one.

The car came to a screeching halt, pulling me out of my daze. My father turned around.

"What's your name?" he asked gently. The girl stiffened.

"You can trust us," I said, "I swear, we wont hurt you."

She looked up at me, then at my father. She swallowed. "Riley."

"Riley," my father said. "Do you want to come with us?"

"That depends on where you're going." there was a fearlessness to her voice, but not to her eyes.

"Somewhere safe." he said. "I promise."

She looked up at me. It was like she was trying to see something.

"Fine." she said.

"Okay I have a few questions for you." my father said and she nodded. "How many walkers have you killed."

"To many to count."

"What about people. Have you killed anybody?"

She didn't answer for a moment. "Three." she said.

I looked at my father with an expression that screamed "WHOA!"

"Why?" he asked.

"Because, if somebody tried to kill you or your family, wouldn't you kill them?"

"Yes," my father said, "I would. Now what about your dog."

Riley rolled her eyes. "Yeah, she's a pit, but I'm not giving her up."

"Has she ever killed anybody?"

"Chaco? No. Never. Scared them, maybe, but no."

My father just looked at Chaco. I knew what he was thinking. He didn't want the girl to leave. He worried about the kids left in the world. But the dog. It was another mouth to feed. Another liability. But he didn't say anything. Instead he turned the keys and started the engine.

Riley's POV

Never get in a car with strangers. That's the lesson every kid knows by heart, but in this world, I wonder, does it still apply? I was scared, and now homeless, and I'd been offered a home. Why not take it? Nothing could be worse than the last place, right?

We'd switched cars and gotten into a minivan. It was old and worn down, but it ran and much less noisy.  
I didn't know how far away we were from their camp, but we'd been driving for at least an hour or two now and the sun was starting to go down. Nobody has spoken a word the entire time. The air had tension in it.

"Um..." I spoke. The Boy (I still hadn't learned his name) looked at me. He had blue eyes. They were different from mine. They were a light, soft blue that carried the look of 'guarded'. He was wearing a hat. Old and brown. His brown hair came down and curled up at his neck. "Um... when are we going to get there?" I asked.

"Dad," he asked. "Are we going to make it back by tonight?"

"I don't think so." he said. "We'll stop in an hour. Lock down the car. I'll take first watch."

_Lovely. _I thought sarcastically.


	4. Chapter 4

Riley's POV

I couldn't sleep. It's hard to sleep when there has been so much excitement in one day. You must be thinking _You live in a world with zombies, how much more exciting could each day be? _My answer to you: very.

I had reclined my seat and Chaco stayed by my side. That's why I love dogs like Chaco. Pit bulls, I mean. They were imaged as vicious dogs, and they are probably still thought of that way, but people are wrong. They're loving and even a little cuddly. And loyal to a fault.

The Boy woke up as if he was on a internal clock and took the next watch. His father fell asleep quickly. I readjusted myself and Chaco jumped off our seat and went straight into the boy's lap. He laughed quietly.

"She likes you." I said.

The boy turned to me, obviously he'd been unaware of my conciseness. His eyes practically shone in the darkness. He smiled. I gave him a quizzical look.

"What?" I asked.

"So you do talk." he said.

"Yeah, you heard me talk earlier."

"Yeah, but its like we had to force it out of you." he said as he petted Chaco.

"I'm not shy." I whispered. "I'm just...wary."

"We all are." he said.

"Not you."

"I am." he said. "Sometimes."

Silence. Awkward silence.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Carl. Carl Grimes." he said simply. "You?" he knew my name, but I knew what he was trying to do. He wanted to carry on a conversation. Something I hadn't done in a long time.

"Riley." I said. "Riley Cinder."

Carl's POV

_Like "Cinderella"_ I thought. _She's definitely as pretty as her. _

"How old are you?" I asked.

"Fifteen. I think." she said. Nobody knew what day of the year it was for sure. "You?"

"Fifteen." I said. "I think."

The conversation didn't go on after that. We didn't know what to talk about. So we just sat there quietly until the sun came up. Then when the minivan started to pull away from its resting place, I fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Carl's POV

I woke to the familiar bumpy road that lead up to the prison gates. I groaned and stretched my arms.

"Ah, you're finally awake." My dad said.

I looked over towards Riley. She was still sleeping. Sometime during the night Chaco must have moved from my seat to hers. The two were all cuddled up. I smiled to myself.

The gates opened for us as we approached. We drove up the hill where we were met by Michonne. Dad told me to go ahead and wake Riley up and to get breakfast before he got out to explain things to Michonne. It wasn't everyday we brought home a new person. The last addition to our big happy family here at the prison had to be over a few months ago. And we definitely never brought home a dog.

I shook Riley gently. "Hey." I said as her blue eyes started to flutter open. She suddenly sat up, alert. "Whoa, there."

"Where are we?" she asked.

"Welcome home." I said with a smile.

Riley's POV

_"Welcome home." _he had said. Home. I guess home was a prison.

I got out of the car behind Carl and was followed by Chaco. He ran over and gave the woman standing near his father a hug.

_That can't be his mother. _ I thought as they approached.

"Riley," he said, "This is Michonne. Michonne, Riley."

"Hi." I said.

"Hi, Riley." Michonne replied. "And who is this?" she asked pointing to Chaco.

"Oh," I said. "This is Chaco."

"She's a pit bull." Michonne observed.

"Yeah—" I was about to go into a small speech about how she was a great dog, but I didn't get the chance.

"I had one growing up," Michonne said. "Best dogs you could ever find."

I smiled at that. Maybe this place wouldn't be so bad after all.

Carl's POV

I took Riley into the kitchen/ cafeteria. Chaco stayed outside to get attention from all the kids who hadn't seen a pet in who knows how long.

Maggie and Glenn were in the already there. Sitting with the one and only Judith, who was playing with her food rather than eating it. She was two—almost three— now, and getting as big as ever.

I forgot Riley for a moment and ran over to the table where the three were sitting and scooped Judith up. She yelped with delight. I turned her around to face me. He hands were covered in oatmeal, but she was smiling so I didn't care.

"You're back!" Maggie said.

"Of course I am." I said. "What? Did you doubt me?"

Glenn and Maggie smiled. "Of course not."

"Oh," I said remembering Riley. "This is Riley."

"Oh!" Maggie said taking notice. "Hi, Riley. I'm Maggie and this is Glenn."

"Hi." she said.

"Um, welcome." Glenn said.

Like I mentioned before, it had been a while since we had new people arrive.

"And this," I said as I returned to Riley's side. "Is Judith."

"Hi, Judith." Riley smiled. "Oh you're hands are so dirty."

Judith held her hands up as if to say _Yes, yes they are. _

I laughed. "Yeah, that's my baby sister for you."

Riley looked at me surprised. I just nodded and took Judith back to her spot to let her finish eating.

I walked Riley into the kitchen to start explaining how everything worked.

"So," I began. "We get three meals a day. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Sometimes there are people here to serve and sometimes there aren't. When nobody is here, just use your best judgement and take what is fair."

We sat down to eat. It was kind of awkward. I have never had a meal that involved more silence than food.

I stopped by Beth's cell with Riley. Beth gave Riley some old clothes she had left over. Jeans, a tank-top, a flannel, and the other girl stuff.

"Why don't I take Riley to the showers?" Beth said.

"You sure?" I asked. I hadn't really talked to Riley a lot, but I still felt somewhat of a protectiveness over her. I knew I could trust Beth. It's _Beth_ but still. I found her. I saved her. I'm...responsible for her.

"Yeah." Beth said, but she must have noticed something in my expression. "Don't worry, Carl. She'll be back soon."

That was enough to make my cheeks flare up red.

Riley's POV

Beth was nice. Everybody I had met so far was, but I kinda wished that I hadn't have had to leave Carl. It's not like I wanted to take a shower with him, but you know, I felt safer with him. Or something like that. All I know is that he's the only one who has done anything to earn my trust.

Beth explained the shower system. We got hot water, but not to overdue it. In and out as quickly as possible.

Beth sat outside the shower room while I bathed. She would have left me, only, the prison is like a maze and she didn't want me ending up in the wrong place. Apparently they had yet to clear some cell blocks and parts of the prison, but who could blame them? This place was huge.

Like Beth had said. In and out as quickly as possible. In the shower, out of the shower. Into the clothes, and not out of them.

_Oh, what a relief._ I thought while getting dressed. _A bra that actually fits. _

Carl's POV

I knew I had jobs to do, but I didn't. Instead, I sat in the cell block, doing nothing, as I waited for Riley. It felt like forever before they returned, but it was probably only twenty minutes.

"Carl," Beth said. "Aren't you supposed to be on fence duty?"

"Yeah," I replied. "But I was waiting for Riley."

"She's already been asked to fence duty?"

"No, actually. I was just about to."

Beth looked confused as my statement. The person who usually asks anybody to do anything is my father. It's not usually an invitation that you receive from anybody else.

"So do you?" I asked Riley. "So do you want to do fence duty. I mean. I'll be there to. But it's better to do it in pairs, and you know. So..." I was mumbling on.

Riley and Beth shared a look and smiled. They were laughing at me.

"Sure," Riley replied. "I'd love to."


	6. Chapter 6

Carl's POV

"So," I said as we arrived at the fence. "What you do is you stab them through the head, and then move on the the next one. It may be a little hard at —"

I was cut off as Riley took the knife I'd given her and killed (I guess _re-killed) _one of the walkers as if it was easier than 1, 2, 3.

"Um... yeah," I said. "Just like that."

_Who is this girl? _I asked myself.

More and more walkers dropped like flies as Riley stabbed them. I just stood there watching. She didn't hesitate. She wasn't scared of them. There was a sadness, or pain, or anger— just something in her eyes. She has been through _something. _But then again, haven't we all?

She caught me watching. "Do I have to do this alone or something?" she asked.

We'd been working for about an hour before we decided to finally sit down and take a break. The number of walkers around the fence had gone visibly by this point, and we now had a huge pile of actual dead corpses laying around the base of the fence.

"So," Riley said, startling me back into the real world. "How long have you guys been here?"

"Um, a while. A year or two... I think." I replied as I looked over to where she was sitting next to me. She wasn't sweating nearly as much as me, but girls never seem to, but little dots of water covered her nose and her cheeks were flushed.

She whistled low. "You're lucky."

"Well, you are to now."

"Yeah, I guess I am."

Riley's POV

I found myself outside, along with the other people here at the prison, with my dinner in hand and my eyes on the sun as it made its decent down to the horizon. Chaco's head was in my lap. She was tired, the kids wore her out. It was nice to see her like this, like a dog. Like a dog who was loved and played with and had a home. It was also nice that she actually got food. She'd been given the scraps of meat that they could spare. We were both enjoying our new home. Hopefully this place stayed that way for a while.

"Excuse me," a little voice said.

I turned to see a little girl, probably no older than six. She had two braids and a little smile on her face.

"Hi," I smiled.

"Can I pet your dog?" she asked.

"Yes of course!" I said.

Chaco opened her eyes as the girl gently petted her. Her tail began to wag, the girl laughed.

"I like your dog." she said.

I gave a little laugh. "Thank you. Her name is Chaco."

"That's a funny name."

"Really? What's yours?"

"Katie."

"Well, hi Katie. I'm Riley."

_Good job, Riley_. I thought to myself. _You've made friends with a six year old._

I noticed that I was standing by myself with Chaco, Katie had left. I was hoping that Carl would have joined me. I'm not clingy or anything, it's just that I hadn't made friends or anything and I felt like the awkward girl in movies who eats in the bathroom stall because she has nobody to sit with.

I didn't get a first day of high school but I got this.

Carl's POV

I was leaning against a wall eating. I debated wether or not to go and join Riley. She'd been with me all day, she had to be sick of me. Plus, I didn't want to appear clingy or anything like that. So I ate, alone, at least for a little bit.

"She's pretty." Michonne startled me.

"What?"

"I said Riley is pretty."

"I guess." I replied.

"Why's she eating alone?" she questioned.

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"What?" I asked slightly annoyed.

"You know, she's just a pretty girl, about your age, eating _alone. _I thought maybe you'd want to join her."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because, like I said, she's a pretty girl, your age, who is eating alone. Plus, you're a good looking boy eating alone."  
"But I'm not alone."

"Yeah you are." Michonne said and then walked away.

I rolled my eyes and then thought about what Michonne said. She is a pretty girl, but she's not _eating_ alone. She's _standing_ alone now. I tossed my paper plate into the trash and than ran to catch her before she went anywhere.

"Hey." I said as I caught up to her side. She smiled. "Um..." I didn't know a conversation starter. "Why don't we go find our where your room is?"

"Yeah, sure."

Riley's POV

At least I had my own room. It was in between Carl's and Beth's rooms. I didn't know what I was expecting when I drew back the curtain to reveal my room. Everybody's was so decorated, but mine on the other hand, was plain. I guess I had been wishing that some of my stuff would magically re-appear to comfort me, but it didn't.

When it came time to sleep, I cried. Sure I now had a home and a new friend and I was safe, but I cried. I cried because I could. I was in a place where I could let myself be weak for at least a few minutes. So, like I said, I cried.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: **

**Hey Guys, **

** Thank you so much for reading my story. I know I may not be the best writer—yet— (self confidence yo) but I'm trying. I love to hear your thoughts and advice so please do not be shy!**

** I am going to camp for two weeks so I am going to try to upload a little more than usual this week, but forgive me if I can't.**

** Anyway, like I said, reviews reviews reviews please.**

Carl's POV

I'm not typically and early riser. The majority of the time I wake up to find everybody else up and ready, but today that was not the case. In fact, not even my father was up. Out of curiosity, I checked Riley's cell, next to mine. Empty. I started to panic. Where was she? Did she leave somehow? Is she hurt?

Then I stopped and thought. _Why the hell am I panicking?_

I didn't have an answer for myself, so I grabbed my hat and went to look for Riley.

Riley's POV

These people had a freaking library. Or, something like that at least. It was more of a collection of books that they had probably found on runs or that they had kept with them. At that moment I didn't care how these people came across these treasures. That's right. I called them treasures, because that's what books are.

Books. Literature. They're what preserve our generation's thoughts, ideas, customs, and ect. And who wouldn't want to be taken back to the world before... _this_?

I started scanning the shelves for familiar titles while Chaco sniffed the books on the lower shelves.

"Chaco, I swear to God if you pee on any of these books I'll feed you to the zombies."

My eyes finally found one that I not only recognized, but one that I loved. _Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. _I hadn't seen one of these books in so long.

Carl's POV

I'd walked, jogged, ran, sprinted like a madman around the prison to try to find Riley. I was probably just being paranoid or something like that.

I decided to go outside and grab some water from the big blue barrels, when I saw her. She was sitting with her back to me, on a set of bleachers. Her head was bent, she was looking at something. I walked over to her. When I neared, I finally saw what she was looking at. It was a book. She seemed totally immersed in the book.

I cleared my throat and it obviously startled her a bit.

"Morning." I said as I moved a little closer to her.

She smiled. "Morning." and then looked back to the book.

"Whatcha got there?"

"A book." She said with that _obviously _voice.

"No shit, sherlock." I said.

She glared at me, I laughed.

"No seriously, what book?"

"Why do you care?" she asked.

"Guarded much?" I replied.

"Actually yes. Very guarded."

"We'll see how long that lasts."

She looked at me with questioning eyes. "Like you aren't guarded yourself."

Truth is, I am very guarded. I hate talking to new people, on the rare occasions that we come across them. But I hadn't been around somebody my age in a while, and it felt... easy.

"Fine," she said. "Its _The Lightning Thief._"

"Oh." I said and she returned to reading. "What's that?" I asked a few moments later.

She looked at me with shocked eyes. "You know. _Percy Jackson & the Olympians." _I shook my head no. "You've never read these books?"

"Nope."

"Oh my God, you never had a childhood."

I laughed at the irony of that comment. "You know a lot of people our age haven't."

She closed her eyes when she realized what I meant. "Yeah, I guess a lot of us haven't."

Silence.

"Here," she said as she handed the book to me. "Read it."

"But I don't—"

"Just read it."

_Ugh, what have I gotten myself into? _I thought.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: **

** Hey Guys, **

** Thank you to those of you who followed my story and added it to their favorites. And thank you to those of you who reviewed, and to those who are reading this and haven't, please review. I don't think it's to much to ask, so please review. **

** I'm trying to write more because like I said I will be at camp for two weeks starting Friday (Yikes. So long!) So stay with me and when I return I promise to update immediatly. **

** I hope you all enjoy the story and most of all, leave reviews. Thanks!**

Carl's POV

_ What have I gotten myself into? _I had asked myself.

_Something amazing. _I answered myself a few chapters later when I was totally and utterly hooked into the story.

**_Chapter 10: We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium_**

_In a way it's nice to know there are Greek gods out there, because you have somebody to blame when things go wrong..._

"Carl?" my father's voice interrupted my reading. "What are you doing?" he asked with a baffled tone.

"Um... reading." I answered with the same _obviously _voice that Riley had used with me.

"Yeah, but its a book."

"I can see that." I said. "Are you okay, Dad?"

"My son is reading. A BOOK." he said to nobody particular. "My son is reading a book and he's up before me."

I chuckled at this. All I ever read was comic books that Michonne or my dad brought back from runs, and it had still been a long time since I'd read one of those. I'm sure that this; me reading a book, was a sight my father had never seen and was never expecting to see. My dad sat down next to me.

"So," he said with a pleased look on his face. "What are you reading?"

I was tempted to say _"A book." _just like Riley, but I didn't.

"_The Lightning Thief." _I replied. "It's like insane good. It's about this kid..." Then i was spurred into a little explanation of the book up to where I was, which wasn't that far, but it seemed so.

"I'm just surprised that you'd actually go into the library and find a book." he said.

"Oh, I didn't get it. Riley gave it to me."

"Riley?"

"You know, the pretty girl we picked up the other day on the run." I knew my mistake once the the sentence left my mouth.

My dad smiled a big smile. "Yep, I remember Riley. That _pretty _girl you found the other day. Yep I remember her." He let out a little chuckle.

"Okay," I said with a smile and a hint of a laugh, "I didn't mean it like _that._"

"Like what?"

I just smiled and looked down at the book. Then a thought passed my mind.

_Did you mean it like _that_?_

My dad clapped me on the shoulder. "I'm glad to see you reading, and I'm glad you've found a _pretty _girl, but make sure to get your chores done in a bit, got it."

I hadn't _found_ a pretty girl...wait... okay I did, but not in the way he was meaning it. But I left it. When was the last time my dad and I actually sat down and talked like this? I don't know the answer, so it must have been a while.

Riley's POV

The smell of something good wafted through the prison halls. Chatter and footsteps echoed off the concrete walls. Chaco had her head in my lap. I was sitting on the floor of the library reading another familiar title. _Pride & Prejudice_. My taste in literature was in fact that varied, I could go from modern humor filled greek mythology to classics filled with Old English.

I closed the book which woke Chaco and stood up.

"C'mon, baby girl." I said and she followed me out the door.

When I entered the dinning area, it was buzzing with life.

_Whoa. So. Many. Freaking. People. _I thought, but my eye picked out one. Over in the far corner was Carl. He was in his own little world it seemed, and the food in front of him looked untouched.

There was a little tug on mu shirt. I look down and found a set of adorable green eyes and blonde hair.

"Hi, Katie." I said.

"Hi, we were wondering if we could could um" she was using more words than necessary to ask a question. "We were wondering if we could play with Chaco."

"Of course, I bet she'd love that."

"Thank you, Riley!" she said and gave me a hug around the leg.

"Oh," I said surprised. "You're very welcome."

"Come on, Chaco." she called as she ran over to an excited looking group of kids.

Chaco looked to me for permission. "Go on." I said and nodded my head in the direction of the kids, and Chaco went bounding with her tail wagging.

I grabbed my food and looked for a spot to sit. There was a spot next to Carl and would I be clingy if I sat next to him?

_Why the hell are you worrying about being clingy, Riley? _I asked myself. So what the hell, I sat next to him.

Carl's POV

"What the hell have you done to me?" I asked Riley the minute she sat down next to me.

"Excuse me?" she asked with wide eyes and a tone that was alarmed.

"Why did you have to give me this book? Why? Why? Why?"

She laughed. "Don't you want a bit of childhood back?"

"But _this._" I said holding up the book. "Is addicting."

She laughed again. It was a nice laugh that was accompanied by a smile. A good smile.

_Stop it, Carl. _I scolded myself.

_Stop what? _Myself replied.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note**

**Hey Guys,**

** So this may or may not be the last chapter you see from me in a few weeks. Remember the whole 2 weeks at camp thing. So yeah. Once again please leave reviews because, like I've said, they mean a lot. **

** [And to the one person who is leaving reviews and comments (you know who you are) thank you so much]**

Riley's POV

Just a heads up, if you do find yourself in the middle of a zombie apocalypse keep in mind that you will never escape the torture of chores and responsibility.

"We all have to do _something_," Beth explained, "But now that there are a lot more people here, we trade off jobs."

"So how often do we actually have to do things?" I asked.

"Usually the adults handle the majority of things, but if you're really good at something, then you'll be asked to do more. You probably won't have to do more than a chore a day."

"What about you?"

"I don't really do many chores seeing as how I usually am taking care of Judith."

"Carl's little sister?" I asked.

"Yeah," she replied with a sad tone. "There mom died soon after we moved in here."

"Oh..."

So you may be wondering what my lovely chore is today. Pulling weeds. The Prison had a farm so that when supply runs became a little harder, we would still have a source of food.

"So," Beth said. "Do you like it here?"  
_Open up, Riley. _I reminded myself.

"Yeah," I said. "I mean its not home, but then again, this place is probably as good as it's going to get."

"I know what you mean." she said. "I lived on a farm before we came here."

"A farm." I said imagining it. "That must've been nice."

"What about you?" she asked. "Where was home before this?"

That was a hard question because I didn't know. Was it the place that felt like home or was it the house that was supposed to be my home.

"I'm not actually sure." I said. "Either is California or New Mexico."

Beth's eyes got a little wide. "How in hell did you wind up here?"

I laughed. "That is a _long_ story."

We were finally done with pulling weeds. I wasn't expecting our job to have made a noticeable difference, but it did.

"Well, you have to promise to tell me sometime, okay?"

"Okay." I replied.

Carl's POV

It was later afternoon, but seeing as how I was addicted to this book, I wasn't getting caught up on the much needed sleep that I had missed out on the morning.

"Carl?" a voice said on the other side of my curtain.

I got up and drew back the curtain. Riley.

"Hey." I said, a little surprised at her showing up here.

"Hey." She said. "So I know this is a lot to ask, but you know the neighborhood where you guys picked me up?"

"Yeah?" I replied.

"Well, my stuff is still there and there are some things I would like to have..."

"And you want to know if we can go back and get it." I said with a sigh.

"Yeah." she said timidly.

"I would love to say yes, but I don't have that kind of say in things."

There was a look of extreme sadness in her eyes for a moment, but then it vanished.

"Yeah, yeah. That's fine."

"Wait." I said. "I'll ask my dad. Maybe on the next supply run we can get it."

She brightened, but even that only lasted for a moment.

"Thanks."


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note:**

**hey guys,**

**thank you for your reviews! I'm back from camp and I'm trying to find time to write but I've got a lot to do (prepping for horse shows is very time consuming) so here is a short chapter and I'm taking all your comments to heart and will try to incorporate some of your suggestions in the next chapter. **

**so hang in there. Remember to leave reviews!**

**thanks!**

Riley's POV

The prison was pitch black and almost silent. Occasionally I heard somebody cough or sneeze, but besides that it was just me, Chaco, our breathing, and my thoughts. My eyes were open because when I closed them it was hard to think straight. So I stared into the darkness around me.

My mind was captivated by the memories of life before his whole zombie-apocalypse-shabang. There were so many swarming my head, they melded together. I guess that's what you get when you draw things out that you were trying to forget.

The question Beth had asked me earlier had stayed with me all day.

_What about you? Where was home before this? _

I thought about California—about Heartland Academy. I remember my first day. I was only eight years old. The campus was large and intimidating and the other students seemed so as well.

Fast forward and I'm ten. Sitting out on the green hill feeling on top of the world with my friends. Our backpacks are scattered across the lawn. We were laughing and joking about... I can't even remember now.

I see laughter.

I see familiar faces.

I see love.

I'm seeing home.

I was born in New Mexico. And yeah, we had a pretty nice house, but it wasn't home. Sure the sunsets were gorgeous, but nothing could ever make it home. Home is where the heart is, right?

Carl's POV

Judith was sleeping in my room tonight, and although I was in my room, I wasn't sleeping. The lantern in the corner was dimmed and gave off only a small amount of light, but it was enough for me to read. I devoured word after word, sentence after sentence, page after page. I was completely and totally immersed in the story.

And then...

...It ended.

I closed the book slowly. "Whoa." I said to myself. I had been so absorbed into the story that it felt as if I'd left this nightmare of a life and joined another. I just sat there in the dim light. Thinking and contemplating... well... everything.

I heard a quiet chuckle from the doorway. I was snapped out of my thinking and contemplating and thrown back into reality, which was located in a prison cell in the middle of a zombie-apocalypse.

"Sorry, I should've knocked." Riley said.

"No, no," I said and walked over to where she was standing in the doorway. "It's fine. What's up?"

"The ceiling. Jeez, I knew you were stupid, but not that stupid." she said jokingly.

I gave a quiet laugh. "Look at that, the girl has a sense of humor." I said as I leaned against the doorway and looked down at her.

"Yeah," she said and looked away from me. "The girl has got a lot of stuff you don't know about."

I waited a moment before I asked. "And would the girl like to tell me any of those things?"

"I think she'd love that." she smiled.

"Just give me a time and date, and I'm all hers."

"How about today and... what about right now?"

I opened my arm to let her enter. "Sounds great."


	11. Chapter 11: PROTECT THIS HOUSE

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**Hey guys, **

**so here is the next chapter. Sorry it took so long. My last computer basically crashed and so I had to get a new laptop!**

**Anyway, I'll try to update more as long as ya'll keep leaving reviews and such. **

**In this chapter I tried to take what some of you said and put it into play, so tell me how I did!**

**Thank you so much for reading!**

Riley's POV

Carl turns out to be a great listener, but a terrible talker. Last night we talked and talked—actually I talked and talked— for what seemed like forever. Carl on the other hand, never said a word. And he calls me guarded.

It wasn't like my one goal out of last night was to learn everything there is to learn about Carl, it was to open up. But I would have loved him opening up to me to. Now that I think about it, it made no sense for me to go to Carl and talk about that. It was Beth's question which was keeping me up into the late hours of the night.

Why the hell did I go to Carl?

Carl's POV

Okay, I'm just going to say it. I like her. Like I _like_ her. She talked so much last night, and I never wanted her to shut up, not once. Her voice is like music to my ears. I know she was waiting for me to say something, for me to open up to, but I couldn't. Her stories... they were different, interesting, authentic. But me, what type of life had I lived. Not much of one, I can tell you that.

But Riley... she talked about Heartland Academy and how she took to music so easily and all her friends and everything they got to do. What did I get to do? Well I went to a public school, until there was no more school. Sure, I have a good story to anybody who isn't living in a zombie-apocalypse... but sadly we all are.

So why would I open up to her? All it would show is that I'm just another regular guy, and I don't know if I really want her to think of me like that.

I wasn't dreaming when Judith's crying woke me, and I realized why. I wouldn't have been able to dream something better than what was already happening. Riley never left my room last night. I remember hugging her because she was crying, and what else was I supposed to do? So here she was, head on my arm, pressed against my chest, sleeping.

Judith let out another cry. I didn't want to move, but I had to. I carefully slipped my arm out from underneath her head and went to pick her up.

"Good morning, pretty girl." I said as I picked her up. She didn't stop crying. "Aww, what's the matter, Jude?"

Even if Judith could answer using words that made sense, she wouldn't have gotten the chance. My dad came in the room in a mad rush, with Beth trailing.

"What's wrong?" I asked handing Judith to Beth.

"Grab your gun and knife."

"Why? What's going on?"

"They're breaking the fence." he said as he turned to rush out, but he threw a glance to Riley. "Bring Riley to." then he was gone.

"Riley," I said as I shook her gently.

As she woke, she looked more and more confused. "What—"

"Long story short," I said as I pulled on my boots. "You fell asleep here last night. Anyway, the walkers are about to break the fence down."

"WHAT!"

"Grab your boots, gun, and knife. We gotta go."

Riley's POV

We were outside in under two minutes. I didn't have time to dwell on the fact that I had awoken in Carl's room, all I could think was something bad was happening.

And I was right.

The second I saw the fences I knew that bad luck had followed me once again. Faces, both familiar and unfamiliar, were working hard to get the walkers away from the fence.

There were two trucks about to leave the prison gates to lead them away. I sprinted to the nearest one and jumped in the back.

"Are you crazy? Get out!" A guy with wild, jet black hair said.

"I'm a good shot, you'll need me."

"I don't think so," he replied.

"Max," Carl said behind me, slightly out of breath. "Trust me, you'll need her."

"Carl, get out of the truck. Your father will kill me!"

"Are we really going to argue about this right now?!" Carl yelled. "Drive!"

Max pounded on the hood of the car and it lurched forward and through the gates. They closed right behind us, and I suddenly felt that maybe this was the stupidest thing I've ever done.

Carl's POV

We've had attacks on the fence before, but never something this big. Hundreds and hundreds of them were at the fence. Thankfully the sides of the truck had boards that stuck up, giving us at least a little protection.

Some of them noticed, some of them didn't, but that didn't matter. They were dropping like flies, but I wasn't the one taking the shots. It was Riley. She took maybe two seconds max to aim and shoot. Max and I both stared at her in awe. She never missed a shot.

"C'mon, guys!" She yelled. "Don't make me do all the work!"

And the shooting started.

Riley's POV

We were out there maybe ten minutes by the time somebody had to hand me a silencer for my gun. Everybody else had one and the pop of my gun was drawing an unwanted amount of attention from the walkers. And by the time we reached fifteen minutes, I was positive I had pumped out more bullets than anybody else. This was my home and I wasn't going to let these creepy-ass-dead-people take another one. First Heartland, then New Mexico. No. This is mine. This is my home, and I will not stand by and watch it be taken over again.

So I didn't stop shooting. I didn't stop shooting until they told me to. Until I had to. Because what is that cheesy quote coaches always use before a big game? Oh yeah.

"**Protect this house**"


End file.
